© Elio GermaniBilbao leads ODELL, Europe's first observatory dedicated to protecting local leaders from disinformation and harassment and rebuilding citizen trust in local democracy.
LOCAL GOVERNANCE UNDER PRESSURE
Across Europe, local leaders are increasingly targeted by disinformation, hate speech, and political harassment. As the level of governance closest to citizens, municipalities feel these pressures first — and hardest. Yet until now, no dedicated European structure existed to monitor these threats and protect those on the frontline of democratic life. ODELL, promoted by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) in partnership with the University of Bocconi, was created to fill this gap. Bilbao was designated as European Lighthouse City, leading the project through a multilevel alliance with EUDEL and the Basque Government.
A LIVING LAB FOR DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE
ODELL is Europe's first observatory dedicated to defending democracy from the local level up — and it goes far beyond monitoring. It equips mayors and councillors with practical protection tools, digital security guidelines, and crisis communication strategies. It tracks hate speech and disinformation in real time, produces evidence-based reports, and runs democratic literacy initiatives to reconnect citizens with their institutions. Bilbao serves as a living laboratory where all of these approaches are tested, refined, and made transferable — turning local experience into a replicable model for cities across Europe
FROM BILBAO TO EUROPE
What makes ODELL significant is its shift in mindset: democratic protection as proactive public policy, not crisis management. Through a multilevel alliance with EUDEL and the Basque Government, the project has already developed concrete tools — protocols, digital security guidelines, and crisis communication strategies — that municipalities can adopt directly. Its participatory and educational dimension simultaneously works to rebuild trust between citizens and local government. As a living laboratory, Bilbao tests and refines these approaches before making them transferable, offering every European municipality a framework to protect its leaders, counter disinformation, and keep local democracy stable, ethical, and citizen-centred.
